Yarn feeding and collecting device



J1me 1959 s. G. HAWTIN ETAL 2,889,034

YARN FEEDING AND COLLECTING DEVICE Filed May 12, 1954 "FIG. I. FIG. 2.

United States Patent FEEDING AND COLLECTING DEVICE Selwyn George Hawtinand Denis William Groombridge, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignorsto British Celanese Limited,a corporation of Great Britain ApplicationMay 12, 1954, Serial No. 429,307

. Claims priority, application Great Britain May 15, 1953 6 Claims. (Cl.222-655) This invention relates to yarn feeding and collecting devices,and in particular devices in whichyarns, tows and other filamentarymaterials (hereinafter referred to collectively as yarns) are fedto cansinto which they fall by their own weight and in which they are collectedwithout being wound up.

When yarns are to be collected in this way it is most important thatthey should be fed evenly into the can.

yarn is wet, irregularities in the feed and hencein the arrangement ofthe yarn in the can maybe very troublesome, ihowev er carefully theoperaa'on is performed.

.' We now believe the yarn tending to stick to the surface of the wheel,with therresult that it clings to the wheel over a varying distancebeyond the point at which it would leave it in the absence of adhesion.This belieffinds support in the itwis lapped one or more times, andespecially when the A that these irregularities are caused by p i factthat the novel feeding device described below, which provides much lessscope for the occurrence of the efiect described, does in factsubstantially eliminate or at the least greatly reduce theirregularities, and enables the yarn to be evenly laid in the can sothat it can later be withdrawn from the can rapidly and cleanly.

The yarn feeding device of the invention comprises a. positively drivenforwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder, a number of pegs extendinglaterally from one side of the wheel around its periphery and havingtheir axes parallel or nearly parallel to the axis of the wheel, andmeans whereby a yarn, after lapping the cylindrical wheel one or moretimes, is caused to pass over the pegs before leaving the device. Whilethe feeding device is of particular advantage when the yarn is to be fedinto a can under its own weight, it may also be used to feed yarn to awinding device or other textile apparatus.

The pegs may conveniently be of circular cross-section, but Whether theyare or not, it is desirable that as much of their surface as makescontact with the yarn should be so curved that the yarn does not passover any sharp edges. We prefer to use five or more, for example 10 20,pegs spaced between about 2 and 6 inches apart. The yarn-carryingsurfaces of the pegs may be flush with the yarn-carrying surface of thewheel, or may be stepped up slightly. Preferably the number andpositions of the pegs are such that the length of a complete lap of yarnround them does not differ by more than 5%, and special- 1y by more than2%, from the length of a complete lap round the wheel; indeed we havefound it most advantageous to arrange the pegs so that the length of acomplete lap round them is within 0.5% of the length of a Patented June2, 1959 complete lap round the wheel. (By the length of a complete lapof yarn we mean that length of yarn which would completely encircle thespecified part of the device in the absence of any means for causing theyarn to traverse along the device, which necessarily lengthens the pathof the yarn round the device.)

To cause the yarn to pass from the wheel to the pegs some form of guidemeans is provided. This may for example. comprise a pig-tail or otheryarn guide spaced from and opposite the pegs. It is preferable toprovide also guide means to cause the yarn to move transversely acrossthe wheel as it laps it, so as to keep the several turns of yarnseparate. Thus a series of pig-tail or other yarn guides may be fixed inline, one or more being opposite the wheel and one or more opposite thepegs. Instead of the yarn guides a suitably placed skew roller may beused to effect the transverse movement of the yarn.

A yarn feeding and collecting device in accordance with the invention isillustrated diagrammatically in the drawing, in which a Figure 1represents a frontal View, and

Figure 2 represents a side view, of the device in operation.

Referring to the drawing, the yarn feeding device comprises a wheel 3mounted on a shaft 4 journalled in a bearing member 5 and driven by anysuitable means (not shown). Cylindrical pegs 6 equally spaced round theperiphery of the wheel 3 extend from the side of the wheel away from thebearing member 5. The pegs 6 are stepped up slightly from the surface ofthe wheel 3. A rod '7, carrying pig-tail yarn guides 8, 9 and 10, ismounted on the bearing member 5 and extends underneath the wheel andmost of the length of the pegs, parallel to and in the same verticalplane as the axis of the wheel.

In using the yarn feeding device, a yarn 11 is passed in contact withthe wheel 3, through the yarn guide 8, round the wheel, through the yarnguide 9, then partly round the wheel and partly round the pegs to theyarn guide 10, whence it is carried once more round the pegs and allowedto fall into a sliver can 12. Threading up at high operating speeds ismade easier if a clutch is provided in the drive for the shaft 4.

The device of the invention is particularly valuable in connection withthe production of cellulose acetate yarn by a wet-spinning method. Forexample, a spinning solution of cellulose acetate in acetone may beextruded into aqueous acetone or aqueous diethylene glycol diacetate ina device such as is described in one of the following specifications,viz: U.S. applications S. Nos. 217,816, filed March 27, 1951, of S. G.Hawtin and J. W. Grebby, now U.S. Patent No. 2,786,737; 237,397, filedJuly 18, 1951, of W. I. Taylor and S. G. Hawtin, now Patent No. 2,700,-794; and 323,788, filed December 3, 1952, of P. F. C. Sowter and F. B.Hill; U.S. applications S. Nos. 451,190, filed August 20, 1954; and451,191, filed August 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to UKPatent No. 787 557, both of R. J. Brown and I. Downing; U.S. applicationS. No. 451,193, filed August 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding toUnited Kingdom Patent No. 787,558 of F. B. Hill and 1. Downing; U.S.application S. No. 457,721, filed September 22, 1954, of P. F. C. Sowterand F. B. Hill; U.S. application S. No. 457,684, filed September 22,1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to United Kingdom Patent No. 787,560of R. J. Brown and 1. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 451,192, filedAugust 20, 1954 (now abandoned), corresponding to United Kingdom PatentNo. 787,561 of F. B. Hill and J. Downing; U.S. application S. No. 488,-868, filed February 17, 1955, of R. J. Brown and 1. Downing, or U.S.application S. No. 285,238, filed April 30, 1952, of W. H. Bradshaw andR. 0. Denyes, now U.S. Patent No. 2,732,586; the yarn so formed,preferably after passing through an aqueous or other washing bath, maybe fed by means of the new feeding device into a can. If desired, theyarn may subsequently be drawn from the can and passed to a stretchingdevice, or it may be partly or completely saponified in the can, asdescribed in British specification No. 688,781 of W. Whitehead and A. W.Keight. The new feeding device may be used also in connection with themanufacture of yarns by other processes, and in connection withtreatments of previously formed yarns, for example the stretching ofcellulose acetate yarns softened by contact with a hot aqueous medium.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding Wet yarns into cans,comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positivelydriven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegsextending laterally from one side of the Wheel around its periphery andhaving their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, thenumber and positions of the pegs being such that the length of acomplete lap of yarn around them is Within 2% of the length of acomplete lap around the wheel and means whereby a yarn, after lappingthe cylindrical wheel at least one time, is caused to pass over the pegsbefore leaving the device.

2. A yarn feeding device according to claim 1, wherein the length of acomplete lap of the yarn round the pegs is within 0.5% of that of acomplete lap round the wheel.

3. A yarn feeding device according to claim 1, wherein as much of thesurfaces of the pegs as makes contact with a yarn passing round thedevice is so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges.

4. A yarn feeding device according to claim 2, Wherein as much of thesurface of the pegs as makes contact with a yarn passing round thedevice is so curved that the yarn does not pass over any sharp edges.

5. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding wet yarns into cans,comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positivelydriven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegsextending laterally from one side of the wheel around its periphery andhaving their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, thenumber and positions of the pegs being such that the length of acomplete lap of yarn around them is within 2% of the length of acomplete lap around the Wheel, and means whereby a yarn, after lappingthe cylindrical Wheel at least one time, is caused to pass over the pegsbefore leaving the device, the means for causing the yarn to pass overthe pegs after lapping the wheel comprising at least one yarn guidespaced from and in an extension of a radius of the wheel, and at leastone other spaced from and on an extension of a straight line passingthrough and perpendicular to the axis of the polyhedral figure Whoseedges are the axes of the pegs.

6. A yarn feeding device suitable for feeding wet yarns into cans,comprising a forwarding wheel in the form of a cylinder positivelydriven about a horizontal axis, at least five equally spaced pegsextending laterally from one side of the Wheel around its periphery andhaving their axes substantially parallel to the axis of the wheel, thenumber and positions of the pegs being such that the length of acomplete lap of yarn around them is Within 0.5% of the length of acomplete lap around the Wheel, as much of the surface of the pegs asmakes contact with a yarn passing round the device being so curved thatthe yarn does not pass over any sharp edges, and means whereby a yarn,after lapping the cylindrical Wheel at least one time, is caused to passover the pegs before leaving the device, the means for causing the yarnto pass over the pegs after lapping the wheel comprising at least oneyarn guide spaced from and in an extension of a radius of the wheel, andat least one other spaced from and on an extension of a straight linepassing through and perpendicular to the axis of the polyhedral figurewhose edges are the axes of the pegs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,683,482 Phifer Sept. 4, 1928 2,259,202 Cooper Oct. 14, 1941 2,238,755Cole Jan. 11, 1944 2,339,403 Pierre Apr. 30, 1 946 2,579,846 MoravecDec. 25, 1951 2,661,522 Lowe et al. Dec. 8, 1953 2,702,623 Pelton Feb.22, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 694,586 Germany Aug. 3, 1940

